From Bloomberg:
Brazil Real Falls on Concern Rousseff Faces Budget Challenges
Brazil’s real dropped for a second straight day amid concern President Dilma Rousseff still faces challenges in Congress as she works to shore up fiscal accounts and preserve the nation’s investment-grade status. (More)
Here Are the Suspicious Moves in the Australian Dollar That Set Off an Investigation
The Australian dollar is up today after the Reserve Bank of Australia announced interest rates would remain unchanged, surprising most traders who were expecting a cut. However, regulators noticed that the spike actually began before the announcement was officially released. Even more bizarre, it's the third month in a row that the aussie has made a sharp move just moments before a monetary policy decision was made public. (Continue reading)
Spain Government Beats Italy to Borrow at Below-Zero Rate
Spain’s government borrowed money for the first time at interest rates below zero, as investors pile into European debt knowing prices will be supported by the European Central Bank’s quantitative-easing stimulus program. (More)
News Corp.'s $1 Billion Plan to Overhaul Education Is Riddled With Failures 
Seventh-grader Kevin Warren hunched over his desk, struggling to log on to a new tablet computer that News Corp. leased to his school. It replaced an earlier gadget, which had overheated, generating a red warning bar across the screen.
A few desks away at their Greensboro, North Carolina, middle school, Krista Sturdivant wasn’t impressed with the tablet. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t,” she said as her desk mate, Ayana Munoz, wearing sky-blue lipstick, nodded in agreement. “Sometimes it doesn’t connect to the Wi-Fi, and I can’t get my work done,” Ayana said. (Continue)
Taking Aim at 'Washington Machine,' Rand Paul Begins 2016 Presidential Campaign
LOUISVILLE—Kentucky Senator Rand Paul formally began his presidential campaign on Tuesday, writing on his website that he is “running for President of the United States of America because I want to defeat the Washington machine.”
He is expected to appear at a kickoff rally later Tuesday at Louisville's Galt House, a historic hotel overlooking the Ohio River, making him the second Republican and second freshman senator to formally join the 2016 presidential race. (More here)
Auto Analyst: The Remainder of My Career Will Be Focused on This One Chart 
Jonas says that the auto industry is being eyed by outside players that want in on the "$10tn mobility market (10tn miles traveled x $1/mile)" and that the future of the industry is going to revolve around two fairly recent phenomenons: (1) the shared economy and (2) autonomous driving. (Full article)
Record U.S. Capital Spending Is Last Thing the Market Wants 
If you’re an American chief executive officer with a couple million dollars to blow, you may want to think twice before using it to expand plants or add equipment.
That’s the message from equity markets, where shares of companies using the biggest portion of their cash on capital expenditures in 2014 trailed those that spent more on dividends and buybacks, according to data compiled by Barclays Plc. While the underperformance didn’t keep corporate investment from hitting a record last year, the rate of growth in repurchases was higher. (Continue reading)
From Globeadvisor.com:
Crude fallout spreads beyond oil patch
OTTAWA — The impact of the oil-price collapse is hitting home in Canada's oil patch and beyond as companies rethink plans to hire and invest.
Businesses are gloomier about adding workers than they've been since early 2009, when the country was still reeling from the recession, according to the Bank of Canada's quarterly business outlook survey, released Monday. (More here)
